1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved front loading type of automatic paper feeding apparatus for preventing the skewing of paper being fed, by providing a paper aligning device for aligning the paper before the paper feeding.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an image forming apparatus such as an ink jet printer, etc. employs an automatic paper feeding apparatus for feeding a sheet of paper. In such an image forming apparatus, a so-called "paper skew" may occur due to the skew paper feeding, resulting in a skewed image printed on the paper.
The paper skew is caused by an unsmooth paper path due to a system or assembling error, or by an unstable positioning of the paper in a paper feeding apparatus.
FIGS. 1 to 3 show the above-mentioned problems of the related art. Referring to FIG. 1, a lever 2 and a bevel gear 3 are driven by the movement of a carriage 1, and as shown in FIG. 2, a cam 5 is moved by a shaft 4 to thereby push a knock-up plate 6 upward and press the paper (P) into tight contact with a feed roller 7.
Next, in the above position, the carriage 1 rotates the feed roller 7 toward a paper feeding position (counterclockwise direction in FIG. 2). Accordingly, the paper (P) is picked up, conveyed along a guiding rib 8, and stopped at the printing position. Then, the carriage 1 leaves from the pickup position, to perform the printing operation. In such a situation, by the movement of a separator 9, the top paper of a plurality of loaded paper, that is in direct contact with the feed roller 7, is picked up first.
In such a structure, when the paper (P) is not orderly arranged in a cassette 10, the paper (P) is firmly secured by the feed roller 7 during the movement of the cam shaft 4 and the cam 5 in the skewed state, and as the feed roller 7 is rotated, the skewed paper (P) is conveyed to the printing operation. Accordingly, the image is also skewed when printed on the skewed paper (P).